Pelham Girls Swim Team Spared from Budget Cuts

The Varsity girls’ swimmers will lose a coach and share a pool with Eastchester, but they won’t lose their team, the Board of Education announced on Monday night.

As the Board of Education continued to smooth out one its tightest budgets in recent years, it the Varsity girls swim team as a way to curb costs. But the team members—some of whom are striving for athletic scholarships—fought to save their sport. They garnered more than 475 signatures for their petition and found ways to cut expenses.

Joe Delvecchio, PMHS’ athletic director, pointed out that the team will save $11,000 by sharing a pool with Eastchester and only paying for one coach, instead of two. Delvecchio also proposed cutting out bussing altogether, an $8,000 expense, and relying on parents to transport the swimmers to practices and meets. The Board of Education, however, noted that it was willing to find some funding for transportation.

“There’s nothing worse than being a coach and worrying about kids getting there,” remarked Board of Education member Will Cavanagh.

Delvecchio said that the proposed cuts will not affect the quality of the swimming program since participation has declined in recent years. Where most teams have about 25 to 30 members, Pelham will likely only have between eight and 10 returning swimmers next year.

“The only impact [of working with another school] is that it saves us dollars and cents,” Delvecchio said. “It’s not a merged team.”

, a PMHS junior who’s swam for Pelham since she was in seventh grade, spoke on behalf of the swim team in expressing her gratitude to the board.

“The swim team means the world to me,” Schauer said. “Thank you. It really means a lot that you are saving us.”

In addition to breaking records, representing PMHS and forming friendships, Schauer mentioned that swimming for a Varsity team is a key component when it comes to drawing recruiters’ attention.

“You are a role model for other students and for all of us as well,” said Robert Eicher, President of the Pelham Board of Education.